Friends Provident

The Pensions Commission and the industry as a whole have broadly welcomed the government's white paper detailing its proposals for pensions reform.

Two in five under-30s believe they will have retired by the age of 50, despite the strong possibility of an increase in the state retirement age to 68 by 2050.

Almost a quarter (24%) of all homeowners in the UK do not have cover to pay off their mortgage debts in the event of their death, a Friends Provident survey reveals.

Friends Provident has upgraded its web-based investment portfolio planning tool, Dynamic Portfolio Planner (DPP), after consulting with IFAs on how it could better reflect their needs.

Webline has introduced a new Pension Term Assurance (PTA) service, which offers quotes from four major providers, with an extension of the provider panel planned for the near future.

Friends Provident is offering a pension term assurance (PTA) product - Tax Relief Life Cover (TRLC) - to coincide with the new A-Day legislation.

SUPERMARKET GIANT Tesco is considering placing its £12bn freehold property portfolio into a Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) in a bid to enhance shareholder returns, according to this morning's papers.

Members of Friends Provident defined contribution (DC) pension schemes are to receive a series of leaflets to help them understand the impact of A-Day.

FRIENDS PROVIDENT, the life insurance company, said yesterday sales of life insurance and pension products were nearly a third higher than last year, says the Times .

In the UK the FTSE 100 Index leading shares added 0.6% to 5414.80, paced by shares of Friends Provident, which rose 3.9% to 180.50p amid speculation the company may be a takeover target.